Plant and Animal Science

Inspired from plants, a new catalyst has been developed by researchers from University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. The catalyst effectively converts electrical energy to chemical energy at 64 percent efficiency which is quite high compared to other renewable carbon fuels.     

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy. This energy is used by the organisms to fuel their activities. Now scientists have succeeded in harnessing the power of photosynthesis in a manner that rivals the efficiency with which the process takes place naturally.   

Dogs have always showered humans with unconditional love. Research finally tells us why dogs are so friendly-man’s best friend is apparently genetically predisposed to be good natured and a great companion.  

In what was possibly the most memorable piece of cinematic history, Stephen Spielberg’s Jurassic Park has a scene in which an injured Jeff Goldblum is chased by an agile Tyrannosaurus rex. However, new research now tells us that this would have been highly unlikely since the T. rex could not have outrun a human, let alone a car in full speed.

Harsh Bais, a botanist at the University of Delaware, and a high school student collaborated to understand how plants behave when they feel threatened. They studied about a thousand Arabidopsis thaliana or mustard weed plants that were grown in the lab in petri dishes. Read more about their research here.

Researchers have been trying to understand why and how mosquitoes get attracted to humans as their prey by studying their odor sensor system. However, biologists at Vanderbilt University have discovered that female mosquitoes of Anopheles gambiae species have a second system of odor sensors that are tuned to detect human scents. Read more about their research here.

To study the effect of exotic plants on the ecosystem, a group of researchers led by PD Dr Christopher Kaiser-Bunbury, member of the Ecological Networks Study Group of the TU Darmstadt Biology Department, conducted a large field study in Seychelles. They selected eight inselbergs on Mahé which is Seychelles' largest island and from four of these inselbergs, the team removed all exotic plants such as cinnamon and eucalyptus, while leaving the native plants undisturbed. Read more about their research here.

The incubation period of dinosaur eggs has been a subject of interest to researchers. A team of researchers led by Gregory Erickson, a Florida State University professor of biological science, found out through extensive research that dinosaur eggs typically took three to six months to incubate, depending on the dinosaur. Read more about their research here.

To understand behavioral responses of animals to fast and slow rise in temperature, researchers at the University of California - Santa Barbara conducted a study on fruit fly larvae. They found that a quick rise in temperature to 25 degrees stimulated a writhing response in the larvae. On the contrary, upon a gradual increase to the same temperature fewer larvae exhibited responses and the average threshold for bearing higher temperature was high. Read more about their research here.

Contrary to popular belief that eggs from small local enterprises are safer than those produced commercially, researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences found that eggs from small flocks of birds are more likely to carry Salmonella enteritidis. Read more about their research here.